A study evaluating Gordon Moody’s women-only residential program found that nearly half the women studied had no gambling behavior six months after treatment.
Gordon Moody opened its first residential program for women only in 2021. After a trial period, in 2023 the program was fully implemented and moved to West Midlands.
The current treatment includes six weeks of residential treatment and support both before and after. The first week is dedicated to assessment. Four weeks are devoted to treatment, and the last week is “wind down”. The recovery house is also included as an important step to return to independence.
This study tracked 68 women from November 20,21 to November 2023 who participated in the residential program for females. The study was written by Dr. Rosalind Bak-Frampton of Gordon Moody’s evaluation and research team, along with representatives of the University of Nottingham and Lincoln, and the National Addiction Centre.
64 women had completed the Problem Gambling Severity Index, a measure of gambling behavior at risk. At the end of the treatment program, 54 women had completed the PGSI. 31 of them completed the PGSI three months after the completion of the programme and 23 completed it six month post-treatment.
The high-risk group is all women who have completed the PGSI before the program began.
Six months after the treatment, nearly half of women who took the PGSI did not gamble. In this group, 13.0% were classified as having a low-risk. 17.4% had a high-risk. In the meantime, 21,7% of those in this category remained high risk.
Depression and anxiety rates are reduced
This study examined depression and anxiety rates in the participants both before and after treatment.
The Core-10 was completed by 68 of the women at the start of treatment and 23 completed it 6 months after the end. Core-10 measures the level of psychological distress.
The majority of women who entered the program exhibited symptoms of depression. The 39.1% of women who had depression symptoms six months following treatment are a stark contrast. Sixty-nine percent of women did not report any depression or distress symptoms in the posttreatment period.
The GAD-7 assessment was completed by 65 women at the beginning of treatment and another 55 at the conclusion. The rates of anxiety also fell in this case – only 35.3% women had severe anxiety when they began treatment and none at the conclusion.
Moreover, 19,5% of patients did not experience clinical anxiety before treatment. The number of patients who experienced clinical anxiety increased to 55.6% by the end.
Women may benefit more from residential treatment, according to the study.
The article stated that women in particular could benefit from residential treatments, because the residential setting, which is free from caring for others and other duties, gives them time to deal with trauma and develop coping skills.
